Chapter 22: Bandits, Blades, and a Frying Pan

Clatter clatter clatter—.

Benes, one of the major cities of the Difaran Empire.

Located geographically at the empire’s center, it was also called a commercial city.

On the five carriages heading there, about ten users were riding.

“Ah, how much longer do we have to go?”

“I know. It’s so uncomfortable. Why not just let us teleport instantly? What’s with the carriage?”

The seats they were on weren’t made for people to sit on in the first place.

Various goods, decorations.

They were barely managing to ride, wedged between various supplies.

‘It’s definitely cramped. Well, this was common when I was a beginner.’

I briefly recalled when I first started the game before regression.

To move quickly to other regions, you needed a means of transport like a horse.

Naturally, that required considerable expense.

So at first, the best option was to hitch a ride on a cargo carriage like this.

Even then, most of the time you had to pay a small fee or do odd jobs, but as a beginner, every coin counted, so it couldn’t be helped.

‘First, I need to go to Benes and get organized.’

This was the linked quest for the class quest, Will of Gatros.

[Class Quest ‘Gatros’s Equipment (1)’]

Quest Rank: Unique

Description: Move to the lakeside village ‘Suhine’ and find traces of Gatros’s equipment.

Reward: Gatros’s equipment

‘The lakeside village, Suhine.’

Fortunately, it wasn’t that far away.

Now that I had a destination, one might think to go straight to Suhine, but Dever Village wasn’t a transportation hub.

Meaning, even to go directly to Suhine, I had to first go to the major city, Benes.

‘I have nothing else to do, so should I fill my satiety?’

I had three times the satiety of a normal user.

Naturally, to fill my satiety completely, I needed three times the food.

Since there was still plenty of time before arriving at Benes,

I didn’t hesitate to take out some steamed potatoes I had received from Dever Village.

“Hoo, hoo~.”

– Wow, that woman. I have to admit her cooking skills! These steamed potatoes are good enough to register in my recipe!

The ability of Food Storage, temperature preservation.

Thanks to that, the steamed potatoes were as hot as if they had just come out of the pot.

I alternated holding them in both hands to cool them down, then carefully peeled them and took a bite.

Crunch—.

“Phew, delicious. As expected, steamed potatoes are best when you blow on them while they’re hot.”

Of course, cold steamed potatoes were also a delicacy.

If you added a little more sugar or salt to cold steamed potatoes and took a big bite, the satisfaction was immense.

Just as I finished one steamed potato in no time,

I suddenly felt the surroundings grow quiet.

“Gulp!”

“Slurp!”

The gazes of the users on the carriage were all fixed on me.

They were quietly watching me eat, swallowing their saliva.

“Man, you really eat well. It must be so delicious.”

“Look at that steam rising. It looks freshly made…”

“Come to think of it, how much satiety do I have left? Slurp!”

One user took out some hard bread from their inventory, but soon sighed and put it back.

After seeing the warm steamed potatoes, the hard bread looked far too unappetizing.

Looking at my Food Storage, I still had plenty of steamed potatoes.

So I could say what they were hoping for.

“I have quite a lot. Would you like some?”

“R-really! Thank you!”

“Honestly, I was hoping you’d say that, so I was secretly waiting! Hehe.”

“Yeah! It would’ve been cheap to eat alo… no, nothing. Haha!”

I took out still-warm steamed potatoes from my Food Storage one by one and handed them to the users.

A familiar reaction emerged from everyone.

“Hot! Wow, it looks so delicious!”

“Look how moist it is. It really seems freshly made. Amazing!”

Like I had done first, everyone who received a potato rolled it between their hands to cool it.

“Hey, sorry, but do you have anything to dip it in? Like sugar or salt?”

“Wow! This one is already seasoned! Amazing!”

“Really? Munch. Ooh! It’s true!”

As expected of the innkeeper’s cooking skills.

To season steamed potatoes like this, you need to add sugar and salt to the water while boiling, which makes it difficult to control the seasoning.

Even more so when cooking in such large quantities.

But whether from experience, the steamed potatoes were all perfectly seasoned.

And so, an impromptu meal scene unfolded inside the carriage.

Everyone ate so well that they finished all the steamed potatoes and also ate plenty of potato pancakes.

I too had just filled my satiety to 300, feeling satisfied, when—

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“What was that?!”

The carriage suddenly stopped, causing a few users to tumble inside.

The commotion wasn’t over.

“Maintain formation! Protect the carriages!”

“Watch out for arrows! The number of enemies is still unknown!”

The mercenaries guarding the carriages, composed of NPCs, shouted loudly.

At the same time, a quest window appeared for the users in the carriage, including me.

[Spontaneous Quest ‘Bandit Raid’ has been created.]

Quest Rank: Normal

Description: A bandit group has attacked the carriages. Join forces with the mercenaries to protect the carriages.

Reward: Small amount of reward money.

Failure: Loss of some funds and possessed items.

“A spontaneous quest?”

“Let’s go out first! We need to assess the situation!”

“Agreed!”

If this were reality, it would be a situation inducing panic, but these were all users.

Gamers playing a game called Unreal World.

Having already completed the tutorial training ground, they showed no hesitation in their actions.

As I exited the carriage, the first thing I saw were mercenaries raising their shields.

Twang!

Thud, thud!

“Raise your shields higher! Protect the carriages!”

“Yes!”

“Wow, there are more enemies than I thought.”

There were about twenty mercenaries guarding the carriages.

About ten users including myself.

In contrast, the number of bandits was over thirty just in sight.

Adding those hiding in the bushes shooting arrows, it easily exceeded forty.

“Are you outsiders? I ask for your help in the defense!”

“Yes!”

The quest had appeared anyway, and failure meant losing possessions.

Though it was questionable whether beginners who just graduated from the training ground had anything worth losing, no one wanted to die.

“Kwahaha! Judging by the number of mercenaries, this haul will be quite profitable!”

“Die nicely for us!”

The bandits charged with sharp weapons.

Mercenaries and users joined forces to start fighting them.

But the problem wasn’t the bandits with swords.

Twang!

Thwip thwip thwip!

“Gah!”

“We need to deal with those arrows quickly!”

“But these guys are stronger than I thought!”

While fighting the bandits, those hiding in the bushes kept firing arrows relentlessly.

With their hands full dealing with the bandits, the mercenaries had no choice but to take the arrows on their shields.

‘I need to step in.’

The mercenaries were busy defending the carriages and fighting the bandits.

The users were also just beginners who had barely left the training ground.

No one seemed to have the presence of mind to find and neutralize the archers.

So, as soon as I cut down the bandit before me in one stroke, I charged into the bushes.

As expected, sharp arrows came flying toward me.

Ting ting ting!

“What is that guy? A frying pan?”

I didn’t have a shield, but I had the frying pan I received from the training ground’s chef.

After blocking a few arrows, I looked at the pan and saw it was dented in several places.

In some game, you could block bullets with a frying pan.

But it ended up like this after just a few arrows.

“Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1: Fowl Preparation – Plucking Feathers.”

Swish!

“Gah! What speed!”

Because the area was full of grass and trees, I couldn’t summon Chorong.

Using magic would require casting time due to incantations.

In this situation, Cooking Swordplay was the most effective attack method.

True to its name ‘Plucking Feathers’, as my sword passed by, the equipment and bows the bandits wore shattered and fell to the ground.

The next attack followed.

“Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1: Meat Preparation – Cutting the Fascia.”

Stab, stab!

“Gah!”

“Someone do something about that guy!”

“Damn, he’s too fast! Rush him all at once!”

The archers dropped their bows, urgently drew daggers, and charged.

Excluding those already neutralized and fallen to my sword, there were still seven bandits left.

Toward them, I used Cooking Swordplay while chanting the spell I had been preparing.

“The rustling leaves, the dense trees. The sturdy roots that support them. Binding!”

Creak!

“M-magic?”

“A magic swordsman? Damn, why is there a magic swordsman on a carriage on a backroad like this?”

As I said before, this place was full of grass and trees.

As such, the Binding spell, which uses plant roots and stems to restrain enemies, was highly effective.

Though not a complete bind, five of the seven had their legs caught by plants, restricting their movement.

“Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1: Meat Preparation – Cutting the Fascia.”

Stab, stab!

“Da-mn…”

[Level increased.]

In Unreal World, subduing humans also yields experience.

Even if you don’t necessarily kill them.

It was truly instantaneous.

In less than five minutes, I had subdued all the archers.

“Wow. Mister, that’s amazing!”

“How did you do that? Taking down all the archers!”

With the constant rain of arrows stopped, people looked at me in admiration.

Since I was hidden by the bushes, they probably didn’t see me use magic.

But dealing with the archers wasn’t the end.

“Hans! Jason! You all got taken down by that scrawny guy?”

A man, the largest among the bandits, turned around and shouted at me.

One look was enough to know he was the bandit leader.

After sending a mercenary flying with his shield, he immediately charged at me.

“I don’t know what tricks you used. But they won’t work on me, Tyson!”

Whoosh!

The massive blunt weapon in Tyson’s hand created wind pressure as it swept past me.

If I got hit in the head with that blunt weapon, I might get logged out in one blow.

No, even if it wasn’t my head, I’d probably be incapacitated instantly.

Even so, it was too slow.

“You little rat!”

Whoosh!

I read Tyson’s attack and lowered my upper body, feeling a cool breeze above my head.

Looking up, I saw his opening.

Because he used a heavy blunt weapon, his post-attack openings were numerous.

‘There’s a skill perfect for a guy like this.’

Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1.

Within it, besides meat, fowl, and fish preparation, one more technique remained.

“Cooking Swordplay, Chapter 1.”

“Damn! I’ll smash you!”

Barely controlling the momentum from swinging his blunt weapon,

Tyson tried to swing it again.

But I was one step faster.

My leg, extended far back, shot toward Tyson as quickly as a released spring.

“Secret Technique – Cracking an Egg.”

Crack!

“Guh…!”

[Level increased.]

His eyes rolled back immediately.

As I withdrew my leg, Tyson curled up, foaming at the mouth, and collapsed.

“I, I… go…”

Thud—.

[Level increased.]

For some reason, the level-up notifications appeared with a slight delay.

One user watching pointed at the vital spot and muttered.

“Oh my…”

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